Monday, June 04, 2007

Monday Roundup

News
The Denver Post's Mark Kiszla writes a mean spirited little piece on Floyd Landis' participation in this year's Teva Mountain Games. Called a "sideshow" and a "gimmick" Landis is portrayed as a once mighty champion who has been reduced to a mere distraction:

Of course, if Britney Spears can stay in headlines with nothing more than stupid human tricks, then maybe it no longer matters who wins or loses in sports, but how you play the fame game.

Guilty or innocent?

Does it really matter, so long as the tell-all book sells?


Bicycling has a recap of yesterday's road bike hill climb at the Teva Mountain Games with the emphasis on the amazing winner 51 year old Ned Overend. Floyd Landis finished eighth in the time trial, but was still glad he participated:

"It was great to just get out and ride," said Landis, who was competing on a team of pros for Athletes For A Cure in the Ultimate Mountain Challenge. "I haven't been on a bike much at all in recent months, and I don't think I've ridden a mountain bike more than five times in the last five years.



Plum Vail TV posts a nice write up of the Teva Mountain Games, held in Vail,CO during the weekend, listing Floyd Landis as a celebrity to be sighted. It also features Danelle Ballengee an adventure racer who has come back from a devastating fall to actually compete at the games.



LancasterOnline.com's Michael Yoder writes about the Tom Bamford Lancaster Classic bicycle race which was held on Sunday in Lancaster, PA. Floyd Landis was not there of course, but his parents Paul and Arlene Landis were. They caught the race action standing downtown in the wet and cheered the riders each time they lapped the course:

A steady stream of people came up to the couple to voice their support for Floyd, who is in the middle of a court case to retain his Tour title and combat charges of doping. The Landises said they got back last week from California and their son's court hearing.

The couple reminisced about the start of Floyd's riding career. He used to ride mountain bikes at Camp Mack north of Brickerville and won the first mountain bike race he ever entered when he was 14.


T-Mobile's Bernhard Eisel won the race under less than ideal riding conditions.


The CyclingNews writes practically the same summary they wrote yesterday about Floyd Landis competing in the Teva Mountain Games .

The VeloNews weighs in with its Teva Mountain Games summary discussing the "Floyd Factor" and attendance at the time trial run yesterday in which an admittedly out of condition Landis finished 8th.

ESPN Page 2 lays yet another snark on Landis.

Independant.ie's The Couch
takes a pretty jaundiced view, saying Landis has won the race to the bottom.

Blogs
Outside Blog notes that despite the doping scandals, Landis hearings, and all around malaise that has dogged cycling the past year people are still riding, and still racing.

Rant posts the Chicagoland area book tour schedule for Floyd Landis and his upcoming autobiography "Positively False".

The Huffington Post refers to a Columbia Journalism Review article by Jennifer Hughes that was posted here a while back, and discusses the relative merits of the Landis Wiki Defense.

Mountain Bike Blog takes a look at Floyd Landis' appearance at the Teva Mountain Games this weekend and notes that some people have portrayed it in a negative light. MBB thinks that it all depends on whether you think that Floyd is guilty of doping in the TdF or not. On one hand maybe his lack of preparedness got him what he deserved, on the other if Floyd is innocent he got the shaft again.

The Daily Spin does a recap of this weekend's cycling news with a bit about the Teva Mountain Games.


Tank McNamara thinks that Floyd Landis may be 'sampled out".

BLawG Review gives us an indirect plug, snipping Justia from a couple of weeks ago.

Spare Cycles reviews the hearing.

Thought for the Day

When you understand what you see, you will no longer be children. You will know that life is pain, that each of us hangs always upon the cross of himself. And when you know that this is true of every man, woman and child on earth, you will be wiser.

-Whittaker Chambers-




5 comments:

gwadzilla said...

cool...

I was looking for information on this event

AND I FOUND IT!

thanks

-zilla

Unknown said...

Oh great, now all the naysayers are going to say that without T Floyd was beat by a 51 year old man...wait I bet Ned was doping...did they test him?

Ok back to work for me...

Cheryl from Maryland said...

Who selected the Whittaker Chambers quote? Is the mass spec data going to be found in a pumpkin?

strbuk said...

LOL I found that one Cheryl. I was looking at the totality of everything that has happened and got too philosophical, maybe?

str

Cheryl from Maryland said...

Dear Strbk:

No, No, No - not too philosophical. Justice gets one into philosophical places. I enjoyed it because of the source -- my spouse pointed out that maybe a prothonotary warbler has the mass spec data rather than a pumpkin!

Cheryl